Kudos to the Canadian Hydronics Council (CHC) and this country's Hydronics Industry Alliance (HIA).
Kudos to
theCanadian Hydronics Council (CHC) and
this country'sHydronics Industry Alliance(HIA). Both
groups are attempting to raise the awareness of both consumers and builders to
the benefits of hydronic heating, though at much different
levels.
CHC is
moving ahead with plans to launch a $2+ million "Beautiful Heat"
marketing campaign North of the border,
while the Hydronics Institute in the U.S. is looking into the possibility
of moving its marketing arm - HIA - over to the Radiant Panel Association in an
effort to its expand funding base to raise this year's $75,000 budget.
Both the
Canadian and U.S. heating industry execs, however, know they are facing a
fundamental problem. Aside from those in the industry, no one knows what
"hydronics" is. It's a name the industry made up back in the
1950s or early 60s.
Ask anyone
outside the industry and they're apt to tell you hydronics is growing
vegetables in water. Few will know it's using water as the heat transfer
medium in heating or cooling systems.
So what to
call it? "Wet heat" conjures up puddles. "Radiant" would
make sense but is now used within the industry as meaning underfloor heating
(so baseboard and radiator manufacturers would probably nix that idea). But
"hydronics" needs a new name. Sort of like how Chinese
gooseberries were renamed kiwis in the 1950s for export marketing reasons.
Want
another example? Chilean Sea Bass is now one of the most often ordered
fish on restaurant menus. Guess not many folks were ordering it when it
was known asPatagonian toothfish.
So,
wetheads, have any ideas? Let me know and I'll pass your suggestion on to HIA
and CHC.